Goodbye
by CopyNinjaHokage
Summary: This is my first published story. Wrote this in the 6th grade. It's just what I thought of when I heard that Hatori's father was dead from some unknown disease (wikipedia). I do not own, in any way, the Fruits Basket anime or manga. Bad summary, I know. Enjoy and feel free to review!


Daisuke placed his weak, proud hand on Hatori's scrawny shoulder and smiled at his son in a candle lit room. "Hatori," his voice was stern, but was gentle. "Son, we both know what's going to happen soon. It's about time too. You be good for your uncle and aunt, you understand me?"

Hatori blinked hard and looked sadly at his lap. "Yes, Father."

"And try to get along with your cousin Kenan, and Ritsu as well. You three are going to need each other sooner or later so its best to start building a close relationship with him now. Are you going to be okay here alone?"

The young man nodded slowly. "That's my boy. It'll only be for a couple of days, a week or so at most." Daisuke released his grip and placed it on his stomach and stared at the ceiling. He closed his eyes weakly and exhaled heavily.

This weird sickness had started a couple of weeks ago when Daisuke had mysteriously collapsed in his office while Hatori was at school. Doctors suspected the man had overworked himself and a bad virus was following not far behind. But they were wrong. Daisuke himself was a physician and he would've known if he had caught a virus or flu. This clearly was worse than anything he'd ever heard of. Determined to remain for his only fifteen year old son, he had taken a few days off to give his body a chance to recover. Sadly, the man's condition only worsened as time passed by.

Hatori sat with his hands clasped on the back of his neck. His sharp eyes softened as they stared into the shadowed floor. Tears would try to escape every time he heard the hoarse coughing of his miserable father. The Dragon used the back of one hand to wipe anyway the trails of the threatening tears when he heard Daisuke mumble an apology. Confused but daring not to make eye contact, Ha'ri listened.

"Son," he felt his father's eyes on him. "Look at me Hatori. It's okay, you can look." Slowly, Hatori raised his head and eyes to meet his father finally face to face. Daisuke appeared worried but still kept his wise composure. "Hatori, we both know what's going to happen soon. I'm sorry to leave you by yourself as your mother did earlier, but you'll have your aunt and uncle right? Behave for them, you understand? I know how much you struggle with curfews. I'm sorry I couldn't make your house life better. If I had fully accepted you as you are, we could have-"

"No Father, please don't say this." The Dragon knew that this was the final moment. He grabbed his father's hand and squeezed it, making the man smile and weakly squeeze back. "I was glad we could spend time together, even if just for a while. If I could change how many times I missed curfew or the way we talked or the way we argued, I wouldn't. I don't care if you haven't accepted me as a part of the zodiac, I'm just blessed that you haven't abandoned me. Father, look at me. I'm happy, I'm happy that you loved me and stayed with me." Ha'ri's grip was tight however it began to tremble furiously; he lowered his head on the verge of tears. "At least for now," Daisuke smiled.

"Don't start thinking that because I'm passing I won't be watching over you, like Mother is now. I don't want you to giving up on anything, you keep going. I know how sensitive you can be, Son. Your choir teacher would be depressed if you left his class as will I, but I still want you to enjoy yourself on that stage because I'll be there watching. Give a 110% out there alright? You're voice isn't one to be wasted. And have some pride in yourself, you're a special person." Daisuke said slowly, the clock was ticking away. Hatori nodded and his vision blurring. "I love you; don't ever forget that, Hatori."

"I love you too, Father." Hatori was crying now. He couldn't take his eyes off his dying father. He gripped the jade diamond-shaped necklace Daisuke had given him when he was only a kindergardener.

Daisuke's lifted a weak hand and wiped one of the tear trails on his son's face. Within five seconds, Daisuke's grip vanished, his hand limp in the Dragon's hold. Hating and fearing this moment, Hatori's eyes widened. "F-Father?" No response. The highschooler felt like he had been punched in the stomach. His increasingly rapid breaths carried traces of his broken whimpers. His shoulders shook as a quiet 'hiccup' led to a series of uncontrollable sobs. Hatori shut his eyes and covered his face in his arm, still holding onto his father's hand. Maids listening outside closed the door to give the two privacy and left for the night. The tears wouldn't stop pouring out of the Dragon's closed eyes. They dripped onto the rough carpet and started to beat the fabric in the form of an everlasting puddle.  
>The room dimmed as all the life in the house repelled. Like the dying fire burning away in the last of the candle's wax, Hatori's stability followed suit, slowly disappearing as it fights so viciously to live on.<p>

Only now the moonlight's beams shimmered through the glass windows and sparkled against the Dragon's sorrowful tears. More violently, Hatori wept and wept, knowing that it wouldn't bring Daisuke back nor will it heal the growing pain in his frozen heart. It was a cage that held the hurt in like a captive prisoner. The squeezing and tightness in his heart forced the Dragon to sit up and hug his risen knees in the chair he had been sitting in for the past half hour. He released his arms from his knees and threw the right over his shoulder and clasped his neck while the left hand ran through his green bangs. His forehead rested on his kneecaps as tears rained onto his lap. They shone like little white droplets of crystal. He fell asleep that night still next to his father in the same position and dreamt of Daisuke and Yumikara together in the golden heaven, they smiled proudly down at him and took him in an unforgettable embrace.

Tears stained his face and had barely dried by the time he woke up. Daisuke was still lying there, pale as the bed sheets. Hatori glanced over at the clock. 7:03a.m. His father's words echoed, "I don't want you giving up on anything, you keep going." The Dragon stood up and wiped his face. He lifted the heavy white comforter and placed it gently over his father's face. The rose in the glass vase next to the bed was placed on top of the white figure. As the Dragon left the room, he said "Goodbye…Father."

Daisuke's funeral contained all the Sohma family; the zodiac members mixed with the more fortunate residents. Saichi, Hatori's strict uncle, and Emiko, the also strict aunt, sat on either side their physically shrinking nephew. Hatori's face looked as stoic as usual, but Shigure saw that his friend was grieving terribly. He was lifeless and his eyes red from many night's worth of weeping. It's been a week since Daisuke's actual death, during the time being, Hatori hadn't slept well nor has he done homework or gotten anything higher than a 65% on any tests, surprising his teachers greatly. Hatori stared into his father's coffin like he had seen a ghost, unable to accept the image. Cousin Kenan's constant staring didn't bother him at the time. "Hey," the Dragon's young relative stood by him. "So you're going to be living with us now, huh?" Hatori's green eyes trailed off the corpse and settled on Kenan. "So it seems…"


End file.
